The dryer isn’t working! These are the words that set off a chain of events that would conclude with 19 hours on the phone with Lowe’s and countless more companies researching why their processes were so far behind today’s standards. The entire ordeal reminded me of a scene from the 90’s sitcom Home Improvement, starring Tim Allen as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor. As a dad that tried to fix home issues on his own, he’d occasionally run into dangerous scenarios and electrical wiring often took center stage. Here’s but one example.
At its very birth, the telegraph system became the handmaiden of commerce. These were the words of the National Telegraph Review and Operator’s Companion, a trusted industry publication written in 1853. Tom Standage’s The Victorian Internet is an exploration of Samuel Morse’s contribution to global communication. To the reader, it became clear that Morse’s invention was the foundation of the technologies that we hold so dear. These include our television, the telephone, and the internet. The telegraph was the basis of America’s electronic commerce operation. Morse’s famed code was the predecessor to today’s communications methods. Tom Standage’s own words:
